Posted on 03/21/2007 9:13:52 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Not quite blat argot, more like 5th grade boys' vocabulary. And then again, one need not to stoop that low. There is, and has always been, a premium on creative usage. For example, once during a scientific meeting [everyone present was a PhD or higher] a speaker, exasperated with some questioner, answered ad hominem: "Chto vy takoj zloj? U vas chto, s utra ne stoit?" [Why are you so pesky? Has your morning erection failed?].
That's an appropriate comparison, a MIG 29 against an out of service US Navy aircraft...
That's pretty much always been the case. Post WWII, Chuck Yeager participated in a number of mock combat flyoffs between allied fighters and captured enemy fighters piloted by Americans. He said regardless of plane, the better pilot usually won. He particupated in similar Korean War era trials using MIG's and the results were the same.
The early Israeli Air Force experience was the same. Flying ME-109's, they swept the skies clear of Egyptian piloted Spitfires.
In his book, Eric Hartmann described an encounter very late in the war betwen he and about 8 American P-51's. Because Hartmann flew over the Eastern Front, his ME-109 wasn't supercharged. Anyway, after 45 minutes of twisting and turning, his ME-109 ran out of fuel and he had to bail out. One outstanding pilot in an outclassed airplane was able to successfully evade 8 P-51's.
Yes,Mig & Sukhoi are 2 different design bureaus.Mig was more or less the superior one during the Soviet era,though in the Russian era,Sukhoi has got the edge.
The initial Mig-29s had other weaknesses-a bad radar,unreliable & very smoky engines & ofcourse poor range.It's very similar to the F-18 Hornet in it's range performance given both belong to the lighter twin engined category.Most people say that close-in,the Mig-29 would have an advantage against the larger F-15.But things would be more equal against an agile F-16.
Newer Mig-29 models like the Mig-29K & Mig-35 have (on paper) much better characteristics like improved radar,larger internal fuel tanks & better engines & radar.
Saab is Swedish,not French(their main company being Dassault).Both produce excellent aircraft,though the Swedes haven't had a great export record.The French aircraft like the Mirage-3/5 & Mirage-2000 are combat proven.
That MiG-29 pictured is Yugoslavian. It carries the now old markings of Serbia and Montenegro. They now have a new symbol since Montenegro split from their union.
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